American History 1865 to 1945

How did the unresolved issues of WWI lay the foundation for the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe a decade later? How could this compare with the Gulf War 70 years later?

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1. How did the unresolved issues of WWI lay the foundation for the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe a decade later?

Fascism and Communism are political systems that rose to prominence after World War I. According to historians, such as E.H. Carr and Eric Hobsbawm, the period between World War I and World War II paved the way for the rise of these ideologies. They point out that liberalism was under serious stress in this period and seemed to be a doomed philosophy. The success of the Russian Revolution of 1917 also resulted in a revolutionary wave across Europe. The socialist movement worldwide split into separate social democratic and Leninist wings. The subsequent formation of the Third International prompted serious debates within social democratic parties, resulting in supporters of the Russian Revolution splitting to form Communist Parties in most industrialized (and many non-industrialized) countries. (1)

Nazism differed from fascism in that it had a stronger emphasis on race, in terms of social and economic policies. Though both ideologies denied the significance of the individual, Italian fascism saw the individual as subservient to the state, whereas Nazism saw the individual, as well as the state, as ultimately subservient to the race. (2) Mussolini's ...

Solution Summary

This solution discusses how the unresolved issues of WWI laid the foundation for the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe a decade later. It also discusses how this could compare with the Gulf War 70 years later.